We blog about career trends, the future job market, and higher education in Minnesota.

Month: January 2014

This month, many recent college graduates will go into student loan repayment after a grace period of six months. The excitement of graduation has worn off and with your first loan payment approaching, you may be scrambling to try and figure out how that payment is going to fit into your budget. Whether you are employed or not, those payments may cause you financial hardship.

Last session the Minnesota Legislature debated on whether to raise the minimum wage. The session closed with the House approving a bill that would raise the wage to $9.50 an hour by 2015. A similar bill is expected to be debated in the 2014 legislative session. Let’s take a closer look at who makes minimum wage in Minnesota.

Many employers find workers without posting a job online. In fact, it’s often estimated that 80 percent (or more) or jobs are never advertised. This is called the hidden job market. The term “hidden” doesn’t mean the jobs are necessarily a secret or that the employer doesn’t want you to know they have an opening. But it does mean that if your search strategy is to only check online job boards, you may be missing out.

A large part of financial wellness includes protecting yourself from identity theft and fraud. It doesn’t happen to many people but the aftereffects of being a victim are harsh and could inconvenience you for the rest of your life. Shredding documents with sensitive information—such as bank statements, tax documents, documents containing your social security number, expired credit cards, anything with your address—is the most basic way to protect yourself from identity theft. Any documents with sensitive information that you keep at home should be stored in a locked, fireproof safe.

One of the benefits of working for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system is the tuition waiver that employees earn after three years of service. This can be used by a MnSCU employee (me) or their family. (It’s a real testament to the value of the product they offer and stand behind.) I come from a humanities background, but I ended up working for the Career and Technical Education department. When the tuition waiver “alarm” sounded for me recently, I decided to seriously explore what I might do to further my education.

If you are anything like me, when you think about networking, you want to possibly run and hide. At first, it sounds like so much work—and what if you say something awkward or someone doesn’t want to talk to you or help you? But I’ve learned that networking is definitely not a dirty word. In fact, it’s an essential part of any job search.

Manufacturers face unprecedented challenges in filling skilled production positions, including competition from other firms, declining interest in manufacturing careers among young people, unattractive firm locations and work shifts, uncompetitive wages, and skills gaps. Minnesota employers are investing in solutions to remove some of these barriers, but hiring difficulties persist.

A New Year often means a new jobs outlook! The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment projections to 2022 last month and Minnesota’s Labor Market Information Office will follow suit this spring. For now, here is an overview of the national outlook.

Some employers may dread the interview process as it takes their time and effort away from the day-to-day operations of their business. As a manager, I love the interview process. It’s an opportunity to gain insight into how job seekers approach the process, how they sell their skills and experience, and discover new employees (of course). Often I am pleasantly surprised with the poise of a candidate and his or her answers to a question. Sometimes I see where a candidate has room for improvement.